THE N W YORKER him, gauging him in that way of his father's. Howard see111ed no larger than the 1110tor he now controlled. Aft- er a 1110ment Howard turned his eyes to Andrew and smiled, as if proud of hi111self, of his lake, and of his running the hoat. Before .L ndrew shifted around to face ahead, he S111iled back. It was the kind of smile a parent gives for a child's performance-a detached smile, called fro 111 a wandenng mind and touched with a little love. \Vith the hot sun coating their hacks, they moved along into the afternoon. Sometime later and without warn- ing, Howard turned the handle to full power and the motor roared with the noise of an airplane engIne .L ndrew had to grah the sides with hoth hands. The hoat slapped the water once, like an opened hand, as it accelerated over the surface. Andrew turned to see a wind-whipped smile on Howard's face. They left a deep churning V behind the111 now, and the water sprayed up from both sides. Something of the promise of the early morning came back to Andrew. It wasn't long before they had to go back down the channel to the tavern for gas. The boat cut along forcefully through the water and left the hoats tied along the banks bobbing. j\ndrew still held the sides of the boat. Down the channel, he saw the back side of the tavern coming into view. The words "LAKEVIE\Y INN" were painted in black on the pink stucco. He knew it was possible his father could be there, waiting around. His father did those things-came around the high school and the ball fields when he was sup- posed to be at work. Once when An- dre"", was playing baseball, he had no- tIced from his shortstop position that his father was over on the street, sitting in the car, but when Andrew slipped over between innings to see him, his father told hI111 it was nothing, told him to go back to his ball game, and drove off a 111 in ute later. .L ndrew glanced around at the bank as Howard slowed the 1110tor and approached the duck, but saw no on . They stopped bèside the red gas pump and tied alongside. Howard told him they had to get the key first, and started up the bank toward the rear of the tavern. i\ndrew lagged back untIl Howard turned and said, "Come on." Howard waited, holding open the back door. They passed through a small dark room filled with beer cases and, opening another door, came into the cool tavern behind one end of the bar. \Vard was down the bar, standing OpposIte a small gathering of 111en Andrew had always imagined him to be small, or wiry, ur h0111ely-a stubby sailor-but he was tall, taller than hIS father, and younger-looking. He wore a short-sleeved sports shirt and looked very sober. He said, "Hello there, big shot," to Howard, and looked past Howard to Andrew. .L ndrew stayed back in the doorway and waited as Howard went up to \" ard and talked to hi111. He was strangely bothered by \Vard's youth and height. He imagined his father standing there across the bar and wondered how they had talked to each other. Had they talked right there with the other men watching? \Vhat tones of voice had they used? The Images that came to mind were not pleasant, as if that hard stomach of his father's and his bricklike arms Vlere strong only for him, as if here in this dark building, where it counted, they had gone soft. He noticed that Howard and \Vard were both looking at him as Howard was talking, and he noticed also that S0111e of the men along the bar were looking his way. He thought they Ulust know he was the son of the man r"'\ . :'".:'. ..":A..:.. ." 59 \Vard had talked to. ("\V ard, listen, I got Iny boy out here in the car. . . .") He thought they looked too long at him not to know s0111ething. Howard 111ade no introductions. He left Ward then and came back to i\.ndrew with a ring of keys. As he passed Andrew, going first through the doorway, \Vard called out, "You guys want some pop, help yourself." Andrew decided he would have no pop. He followed Howard back into the small room, where Howard lifted the iron handle of a wooden freezer door. "I don't want any, Huward," Andrew saId. Howard ignored him and pulled out two bottles. "Sure you do," he said. Down on the dock Howard opened the bottles with his pocket jackknife. .L ndrew hesitated, then took the bottle anyway and drank fr0111 it, and looked again at Howard as he unlocked the pump and then knelt to pump gas into a red can on the floor of the boat. Howard looked up and they stared at each other for a moment. "\Vhat's the matter?" Howard said. "Nothing," .L ndre\v said. "\Ve can go play shuffleboard later," , ('.) f( " ,... .-- - ' -: 'I.. :. . ( . :, l" .::d J / "1 wzsh for all the dazzling trappings of success wzth none of the respo7Isibilities.')